Definitions for MACROˈmæk roʊ

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word MACRO

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

macro, macro instruction(adj)

a single computer instruction that results in a series of instructions in machine language

macro(adj)

very large in scale or scope or capability

GCIDE(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

macro(n.)

A keystroke (or combination of keystrokes) which symbolizes and is replaced by a series of keystrokes; -- a convenient feature of some advanced programs, such as word processors or database programs, which allows a user to rapidly execute any series of operations which may be performed multiple times. Such macros may typically be defined by the program user, without rewriting or recompiling the program.

Origin: [shortened form of macroinstruction]

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

macro(Noun)

A comparatively human-friendly abbreviation of complicated input to a computer program.

The pre-processor expands any embedded macros into source code before it is compiled.

macro(Noun)

macro lens

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Macro

A macro in computer science is a rule or pattern that specifies how a certain input sequence should be mapped to a replacement input sequence according to a defined procedure. The mapping process that instantiates a macro use into a specific sequence is known as macro expansion. A facility for writing macros may be provided as part of a software application or as a part of a programming language. In the former case, macros are used to make tasks using the application less repetitive. In the latter case, they are a tool that allows a programmer to enable code reuse or even to design domain-specific languages.
Macros are used to make a sequence of computing instructions available to the programmer as a single program statement, making the programming task less tedious and less error-prone. Macros often allow positional or keyword parameters that dictate what the conditional assembler program generates and have been used to create entire programs or program suites according to such variables as operating system, platform or other factors. The term derives from "macro instruction", and such expansions were originally used in generating assembly language code.

The New Hacker's Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

macro

[techspeak] A name (possibly followed by a formal
arg list) that is equated to a text or symbolic
expression to which it is to be expanded (possibly with the substitution of
actual arguments) by a macro expander. This definition can be found in any
technical dictionary; what those won't tell you is how the hackish
connotations of the term have changed over time.The term macro originated in
early assemblers, which encouraged the use of macros as a structuring and
information-hiding device. During the early 1970s, macro assemblers became
ubiquitous, and sometimes quite as powerful and expensive as
HLLs, only to fall from favor as improving compiler
technology marginalized assembler programming (see
languages of choice). Nowadays the term is most often used in connection
with the C preprocessor, LISP, or one of several special-purpose languages
built around a macro-expansion facility (such as TeX or Unix's [nt]roff
suite).Indeed, the meaning has drifted enough that the collective macros is now sometimes used for code in any
special-purpose application control language (whether or not the language
is actually translated by text expansion), and for macro-like entities such
as the keyboard macros supported in
some text editors (and PC TSR or Macintosh INIT/CDEV keyboard
enhancers).

macro

Large. Opposite of micro-. In the
mainstream and among other technical cultures (for example, medical people)
this competes with the prefix mega-, but hackers
tend to restrict the latter to quantification.